IT was only a few years ago that children would be playing in the streets with Action Men and Sindy dolls. Today the trend among our youngsters is a very different one.

Because today, you could just as easily find them playing with real guns and knifes.

The revelation comes as police chiefs are trying to raise aware-ness among children of the dangers of guns and gun crime.

When police visited an unidentified school in Liverpool recently, an officer asked the question of a group of 50 children:"How many of you have either owned or held a gun, including air guns, ball bearing guns or spud guns?"

Around a fifth of the children put their hands up. Half of those said they had played with the weapon in the street.

Eighteen of the youngsters also admitted to having knives which many of them said they used for playing games.

Mike Smith, project manager at Merseyside Victim Support and Witness Service says: "This is a very stark number and it shocked us. We believe that probably all of the children who have contact with these type of guns would take them out on the streets."

Ian MacDonald, robbery reduction manager for Liver-pool, adds that many of the children also said that while they really enjoyed living in Liverpool they did not see their futures in the city because of the violence.

"This is something which we want to change and turn around," he says.

"Through early intervention in the schools we also hope to prevent these children running into some of the problems which their elder brothers and sisters have faced."

Mike says through visiting schools it is hoped children will be made to realise the dangers which they put both themselves and others into and the misery which they cause with both guns and knifes.

He adds: "We do not want to be alarmist, we just want to be realistic.

"But we were certainly not aware of the number of children already out there on the roads with these weapons who see them as a toy."

The project aims to target youngsters in danger of becoming involved in gun crime, together with potential offenders.

It is a joint initiative between Liverpool council's Safer Cities partnership, Merseyside Police, Victim Support and Support After Murder And Manslaughter.

Among the initiatives being undertaken is a play which is being performed in schools across Liver-pool by pupils from Halewood Comprehensive's drama department. The play aims to highlight gun crime and its dangers.

A video has also been made which takes audiences on a journey through a normal day to a house party which is taken over by uninvited guests who arrive in possession of a gun.

School children have also taken part in an art competition, designing posters and paintings depicting what they believe is gun crime.

Mike says: "Many of the images are very stark. Some of the pictures showed weapons in the great-est of detail which is very worrying. There were images of pools of blood and bodies which is very graphic for 10 and 11-year-olds."

The pictures will go on display at the Maritime Museumin Liverpool next week.

Meanwhile, parents are today being urged to play a role and educate their children about the dangers of guns.

Mike says: "All guns are danger-ous and they should not be kept as toys. It could be that youngsters think they make them look good but they don't.

"Children in today's society all watch television where there is a lot of gun violence. There are also guns in computer games.

"I would like to see parents explaining to their children that it is not glamorous to own a gun."

During the last year a record number of firearms have been taken off the streets of Merseyside.

Some 2,629 firearms, including handguns and military rifles were seized and destroyed.

ON THE ALERT

POLICE warn that there are many replica guns which can be made to look like genuine guns.

They stress that even guns bought on holiday as a toy can be adapted to look like a genuine firearm.

Firearms are readily available on the internet - with the opportunity for people to even design their own guns. There are sites which say that the use of guns, including the spudgun, is "fast becoming a favourite weekend past-time for people of all ages".

There is also the growing popularity of ball bearing guns, particularly among youngsters. They look just like a genuine firearm.

All of the sellers stress, however, that there are strict regulations governing all purchases.

But the problem with the use of ball bearing guns, for example, has become so acute that teachers across the country have now called for random security checks at school gates to assess the level of weaponry being carried by pupils.

And teaching union, the NASUWT, is aware of two incidents within the last 18 months in which teachers have been shot by ball bearing guns.